Ridge vent opinion?

[Mike Cornelsen]

I'm planning a new roof next spring on my 1951-built house. Going down to the decking. For the first 40 years, the attic was ventilated by vents at each end of the attic (no soffits) and worked fine, no moisture problems. About 20 years ago, I added a wind turbine to help dissipate summer heat. Since I'm going down to the decking, I'm thinking about replacing the wind turbine with a ridge vent all across the top. While I think a ridge vent would give a lot cleaner look than the wind turbine sticking up, maybe I should stay with a capped ridge and the turbine. If it works, don't fix it!

[Mike Hicks]

From what I understand, it is just as important to have soffett vents to draw the air up and into the attic so that the hot air will go out the ridge vent or turbine or gable vent. There are probably some folks who can shed some more educated light on this.

[Ben Franz]

As a remodelling contractor, ridge venting was my solution of choice over eyebrow vents or turbines. To be effective, soffit or eaves vents are required to allow air into the attic. It's important that the lower vents be unblocked by attic insulation - either an insulation "dam" or a plastic vent chute between the rafters is typical. If you're using a roofer, talk over the options with him - if you get a blank stare, maybe find another roofer.

[Mike Cornelsen]

Yeah, intake area must equal or exceed exhaust area. I installed the existing turbine in the center figuring air would draw in through the end vents and exit the turbine. If I go with a ridge vent, I'll probably have to add intake vents towards the lower edge of the roof for it to function properly. And there's always the point that the fewer holes in the roof, the fewer the problems.

[Dave Ogren]

I have ridge vents and am very happy with how they work. In the used real estate business, deductions are made if a hime does not have ridge vents. Also a lot of places have adopted the ridge vent into the code. Do your homework before you spend your money.
Good Luck,

Dave

[Dan Karachio]

I have both a pitched roof and flat roof on our house. None of the houses like mine in our neighborhood have any roof venting. This cannot be good. On the pitched I put in a ridge vent and on the flat part, both a turbine and inlet. I was up in the attic a while back in the summer and it was cooler than in the house! That plus blow in cellulose insulation has, I think, done quite a bit to extend the life of my roof and make the house more comfortable.

[Larry Edgerton]

You don't have your location listed. That can make a difference. I Northern regions the ridge vent does not work in the months that the roof is covered with snow, so although it is recommended by code in some places I do not feel that they are the best solution in all cases.

Take for example the house I am currently building for myself. It has a simple roof design with no valleys, it will be insulated very well, and I am in a heavy snow area. Ridge vents will not work for about 4-5 months of the year. I still want air flow in that period to keep any moisture from accumilating in the attic, so I am going to use soffit vents in conjunction with large gable vents such as you have on your home. If you get on a ladder in front of the gable vents on a hot day you will find that they work very well if sized properly. The rush of hot air will hit you right in the face.

If however you have a cut up roof with lots of changes in plane where it would be hard for a gable vent to work, or say a hip roof, then ridge vents will be the answer.

Many codes are lobbied for by manufacturers, passed by bureaucrats that have no real world experiance into law, and so should be taken with a grain of salt. The best way to be successful in a building product business is to lobby for your product to be made manditory, like Tyvek, bitutane ice guard, and so on.

If you look at the air flow of the typical ridge vent it is not enough in many cases, depending of course on the size of the roof. I try to achieve at least 75% of my total soffit vent area, which many of the more popular ridge vents do not achieve. They work, but they are not always the best solution. I "Never" have ice buildup on the homes I build, unless I am forced to follow an architech's detail that is flawed.

Calculate the real area of soffit vent that you have, the actual area that air can pass through, and then see if your gable vents are large enough. I usually build custom vents that fit the pitch of the roof as you can gain more area with a less intrusive look, plus you get your venting a little closer to the peak.

[David Weaver]

Many codes are lobbied for by manufacturers, passed by bureaucrats that have no real world experiance into law, and so should be taken with a grain of salt. The best way to be successful in a building product business is to lobby for your product to be made manditory, like Tyvek, bitutane ice guard, and so on.


Works so well it's been tried in large stationary power tools!

[Mike Cornelsen]

I always appreciate the thoughtful opinions I receive from other Creekers. Location - Kansas. No soffits so soffit vents aren't an option. The existing gable vents have worked for 60 years so they will remain. I'm just trying to decide whether to stay with my existing turbine or go with a ridge vent. Or I could do both. Resale value is not a concern; I'm in this house for the duration. The ridge vent has an advantage there - as I get older, I won't have the climb on the roof to bag it in the fall; unbag it in the spring like I do the turbine.

[Larry Edgerton]

Works so well it's been tried in large stationary power tools!

Chuckle, chuckle.....;)

[Lee Schierer]

You don't have your location listed. That can make a difference. I Northern regions the ridge vent does not work in the months that the roof is covered with snow, so although it is recommended by code in some places I do not feel that they are the best solution in all cases.
[/I]

I concur, for years our house had gable vents and soffet venting and never had icicles. When we redid the siding ad roofing a few years ago, the roofer put in ridge vents and kept the same soffet venting. First winter for the new roof we had icicles forming along the gutters as soon as snow covered the ridge vent. I am currently working on opening the "decorative" gable vents to provide air flow when snow covers the ridge vent.

[Jim Rimmer]

I am south of Houston so snow pack and icicles are not an issue. However, I had my roof replaced in 2008 and went to ridge vents. I have the plastic channels that run from the soffit vents up past the insulation to prevent blockage. I had long conversations with the contractor abouot soffit vent area and ridge vent area. They seem to be workig very well. It gets terribly hot in the attic in the summer but I guess 25 degrees higher than outside temp is not too bad but that can take it to 125 +. Good airflow, lots of insulation, and the jury is still out (in my mind) about radiant barrier.

[Mike Cornelsen]

I can spit and almost hit the Oklahoma state line so while I get snow and ice, it's nothing like Nebraska and further north. I spoke with a friend of mine who had ridge vents installed when he did his roof last year. He believes that with some added insulation up in the attic of his 1930's era home, he'll be a happy camper in the long run. And yup, I need more attic insulation too, no matter what else I do.

[Jim O'Dell]

We have turbines (4) on the house. There was nothing for the detached shop building, so I put in ridge vents with soffit vents on all the non gable edges. Seems to work well.
Mike, at least in my area, wouldn't bagging the turbines trap moisture in the attic during the winter? I know typically the air is dryer in the winter months, but I've never bagged my turbines. I do have soffit vents in the house too, and no gable ends. Jim.

[Mike Cornelsen]

Bagging the turbine makes no noticeable difference as far as moisture in the attic (in this house). The house wasn't built with a turbine, the turbine wasn't there for the first 40 years and attic moisture has never been an issue. I do think bagging the turbine helps retain heat absorbed on sunny winter days and helps melt any snow/ice on the roof.